There are only five well-documented fatal lightning strikes on giraffes between 1996 and 2010. But due to the population of the species being just 140,000 during this time, it makes for about 0.003 lightning deaths per thousand giraffes each year. This is 30 times the equivalent fatality rate for humans.
Pic by Luca Galuzzi
Insane to think there’s only 140k of them. Seems super low for some reason.
Wild mammals only make up 4% of the total mammal biomass, and that 4% includes whales. We’re just not leaving a lot of room for nature anymore.
This is surprising to me, I grew up in a rural area where deer far outnumbered people. Also you’d think despite their small size the sheer number of rodents in the wild would increase the biomass by more than that. There are large amounts of the earth that is still uninhabited by humans, in mountains, cold climates, islands and keys, oceans, lakes, etc. I’m sure the scientists are right, I’m just shocked.